On-trend hair isn't all about styles in 2012. For those with a willingness to experiment and a desire to stand out from the crowd, the humble headscarf makes its return, pushing the tuban aside and taking on a casual air. Read on to find out whose designed it and how to wear it.
Headscarf / hair wrap
With a new year comes new hair trends, and with new hair trends come a lust for new accessories. In 2012 the head scarf gets revived in a number of ways, from the retro-chic of vintage styles to the exotic appeal of the head wrap.
When it’s come to guiding you through a year’s hair trends, much of what we describe relates to styles and cuts. Colors always fall into third place and hair accessories seldom rate a mention. It’s different for 2012’s hair trends however. For spring / summer 2012 the old guard makes way for the new with the turban hair accessory (finally) making way for something else: the head scarf.
2012 might just be the perfect year for a headscarf revival, and that has a lot to do with the fact that it’s a year whose fashion is defined by revivals. Look over all the trends for spring 2012 and those which are being carried into autumn / fall 2012 and you’ll find amongst them revivals of 1930s, 1960s and1970s fashion. While not all of the fashion revived from each decade are compatible, the headscarf certainly is. And so 2012 provides something of a perfect oppotunity for the headscarf to become fashionable yet again.
But in what form? And is it limited to just the revival of three discinct decades?
The 1940s headscarf
To answer that last question: no, the revival of the headscarf is in no way limited to the revival of fashion from the 30s, 60s and 70s. These three decades instead allow for the revival of styles of headscarves based on the romance of periods of 20th century fashion that have gone on to be romanticised and become iconic. Hence New Zealand designer Karen Walker’s spring / summer 2012 collection played not to the 30s, 60s or 70s, but instead to the 1940s – and a particular part of it at that. While most designers are wont to play to high society when they draw inspiration from past eras of fashion, Karen Walker’s take on the fashionable headscarf for 2012 sits more inline with 1940s Rosie The Riveter iconography.
The wartime image of the tie-up headscarf is one that implies the woman who is feminine but tough. It was a style born out of the hard work of necessity, but one that came to signify a new role for working women of the era.
Marc Jacobs played so a similar style in his S/S ’12 collection, though also offered up a style more inline with the sports fashion trend and a sweat-band, and wholly unlikely to be recommended by us as a part of the headscarf fashion trend.
The 1970s headscarf
The 1970s might currently be in a state of fashion revival, but it was a decade that itself borrowed motifs from an earlier period of fashion: the 1930s. So with the 70s revival well underway and the 30s revival simmering until A/W ’12, it’s the version of the 1970s headscarf that we look to in 2012.
Here we turn to siblings Nicholas and Christopher Kunz and their Nicholas K label’s S/S ’12 offering. A collection both urban and modern, Nicholas K S/S ’12 took a long and flowing approach to the headscarf.
Ethnic head tie
The prominence of the headscarf in S/S ’12 isn’t limited to when it’s worn in line with decade-influenced trends. Ever true to fashion, the headscarf is interprete through the lens of ethnic fashion in 2012. Here, the likes of Kevork Kiledjian have turned to West and Southern Africa, taking inspiration from the traditionalhead tie.
The 1960s headscarf
More associated with the 1950s and 60s is the headscarf folded into a triangular shape and tied under the chin. It’s the typical accompaniment to oversized sunglasses and vintage convertible cars, and a regular vision of incognito glamour for screen stars like Audrey Hepburn. In fact, it’s hard not to look like a vintage starlet when you don this type of headscarf. While a little overlooked on the runways, the bond between this accessory and the ’60s means it’s perfectly wearable in 2012 by association.
The turban isn’t quite dead
We started this guide stating that the headscarf replaces the turban as the fashionable headpiece for 2012. And that’s certainly true, but it’s not to say that the turban has disappeared from the scene altogether – it’s just no longer the main piece of choice. If it’s still your thing for spring, look to Anna Sui’s S/S ’12 collection where tones were made to match.
Retro dreams: Prada's full campaign (16 Jan 2012)
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